Edit/Update: Since the creation of this petition, Eastman has continued to promote behavior and ideals that are contradictory to the values of CU Boulder and actively harmful to our very system of Democracy. Following Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election, John C. Eastman represented the president on a frivolous lawsuit against a number of swing states that sought to throw out millions of legally cast ballots and remand selection of presidential electors to the states' legislatures. Aside from the potential threat to our democracy represented by this suit, it was notably filled with errors, demonstrating Eastman's lack of legal talent. 

Following the failure of his team to gain traction with the US Supreme Court in their suit, Eastman turned his attention to contesting the 2020 presidential election through other means. On January 6th, 2020 Eastman and Rudy Giuliani attended and spoke at a pro-Trump rally in Washington DC, encouraging supporters of the president to continue to challenge the results of the free and fair 2020 election. Eastman pushed baseless conspiracy theories and "demanded" that the Vice President of the United States halt the counting of electoral votes and launch an investigation into voter fraud in swing states. Eastman's energetic delivery helped to rile up an already angry and excited crowd, eventually leading to a full blown riot. These rioters stormed the US Capitol building, delaying the vote count, causing major damage to the building and grounds, and killing a Capitol Hill Police Officer. 

At this time, the CU Boulder Administration has failed to adequately condemn the actions of John Eastman. The half-hearted statements released by Chancellor DiStefano and President Kennedy following Eastman's various political stunts have only emboldened him to lash out more aggressively. We believe it is time for Chancellor DiStefano and the CU Boulder Administration to atone for their past enablement of Eastman and remove him from his position, before any more blood is on their hands. Continuing to preserve Eastman's appointment will only lead to further harm, both to our university and to our democracy. It is time for CU Boulder and the Chancellor to acknowledge that although "diversity of thought" is a lofty and admirable goal, some ideas are not fit for a civilized society.

End of Update.

John C. Eastman is the 2020-21 visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy at the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization, University of Colorado Boulder. He recently published an article in Newsweek questioning the eligibility of Kamala Harris, a California-born congressman, to run for Vice President of the United States of America on the basis of her citizenship (which is of course American).

The article was a thinly-veiled racist/anti-immigrant/white supremacist diatribe meant to actively oppress immigrants and minorities. The xenophobic attitude expressed in the article has no place at CU Boulder, whose stated strategic initiative is to "make excellence inclusive". It sends a strong and disparaging message to immigrants, people of color, and international students in academic settings.

We, the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Colorado call on the President and Board of Regents for the University to denounce Eastman's behavior in no uncertain terms, and to remove him from his position at the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization.